Island



(NoModeL) P. J. LAYDEN.

HORSESHOE.

Patented May 9, 1882.

DH T N E V N WITN ESSES.

N, PEYERS, Pnam-Uma m her, Wzshingion, D. c.

UNTTED STATES PATENT Orrroe.

PATRICK J. LAYDEN, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

HORSESHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 257,500, dated May 9,1882,

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK J. LAYDEN, of the city and county ofProvidence, and State of Rhode Island, have invented anew and usefulImprovementin Horseshoes; and I do hereby declare that the followingspecification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,forming a part of the same, is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof.

The improved shoe hereinafter described is particularly adapted for useupon horses having tender feet, produced by oorns, contracted hoofs,quarter-cracks, &c.; and the improvement consists in deflectingdownwardly the heel portion of the shoe below the main portion thereof,arranging cushions of elastic material upon said deflected heel portion,and providing for an engagement between said cushions and heel portionwhereby the former are retained in position when the shoe is upon thehoof of the animal, and also before the shoe is applied.

The object of my improvement is to provide ahorseshoe which shallfurnisha yielding hearing for the tender portions of the foot, and therebyprevent lameness, with simple and inexpensive means for retaining theelastic cushions upon the shoe before the shoe is applied as well asafter the same is secured to the hoof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 represents my improved shoe inperspective. Fig. 2 shows the same with the cushions removed. Fig. 3represents in perspective one of the cushions employed. Fig. 4. shows inperspective my improvement embodied in a bar-shoe, and Fig. 5 representsin perspective the heel of said bar-shoe with the cushion removed.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, A denotes the shoe, and (t a the toe and heelportions thereof, respectively. By a bend, as at b, the heel portiouisdepressed and made to occupy a plane below the main portion of the shoe,and the arms of said heel portion are provided with dovetail slots 0,for retaining the elastic cushions D in position. These cushions arecomposed of rubber or other suitable elastic material, and each isprovided with a wedge-shaped dowel, d, which depends from the tableportion 07, as shown in Fig. 3. When the cushions are upon the shoe thetops of the portions (Z lie in a plane slightly'above the main portionof the shoe, or on a level therewith, and the dowels d occupy the slots0 and hold the cushions in position. Instead, therefore, of a hard andrigid bearing being offered for the heel of the hoof, a soft andyielding bearingis provided, which prevents lameness from corns andquarter-cracks. The construction also allows a contracted hoof graduallyto assume its proper proportions, since the hoof can no longer grow downupon the inside of the metal heel portion of the shoe, and thereby beprevented from expanding.

As shown in Figs. land 5, my improvement is equally adapted to a shoewhose heel portion consists of a bar, a In this construction of shoe butone cushion,D, is necessary, which is arranged with reference to themain portion of the shoe as above described, and is held in position bythe engagement of its wedgeshaped dowel with the dovetail slot 0 in theheel or bar a". The cushion D therefore will present a yielding bearingnot only for the heel of the hoof, but for the frog of the foot, whichlatter will be retained in position and in good condition by the saidcushion.

Although I prefer to slot the depressed heel of the shoe and provide thecushions with dowels to retain them in position, yet I am aware thatthis construction maybe varied without departing from the spirit of myinvention-as, for instance, by providing the depressed heel portion withan upwardly-projecting wedgeshaped rib or ribs and furnishing thecushions with dovetail cavities to engage said ribs.

1 am also aware that instead of depressing the whole of the heelportionof the shoe, so that both the upper and under surfaces of saidportion lie in planes below the upper and under surfaces, respectively,of the main portion of the shoe, as shown, the upper surface alone maybe depressed (the heel portion thereby be ing made thinner) sufficientlyto accommodate the cushions.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my improved shoe issimple and inexpensive in construction, that the metal portion may beeither cast or wrought, and that the cushions may be combined with themetal shoe and the completed article sent to the trade without danger ofloss of the said cush- 10118.

Horseshoes have heretofore been constructed with depressed heel portionsprovided with elastic cushions secured therein by screws, 850., and asurrounding wall, and they have also been made with an elastic cushionextending all the way around the upper or inner face of the shoe andsecured thereto by portions of the cushion entering recesses or slots inthe shoe and by tongues projecting from the shoe and bent over thecushion; and, also, horseshoes have been made with a recessed shoulderedflange depressed below theface of the shoe and combined with an elasticsole to register in said flange; and, also, horseshoes have beenprovided with depressed heel portions crimped to receive a bearing-pieceof wood, &c., which may be held thereupon by clamps or the like; butthese all differ from my invention in their merchantable impracticability and complexity

